Cardinals use strong third quarter to top Hurons
Rogers City (1-16) enjoyed a brief lead and kept the score close through the first half, but were defeated by Onaway, 55-31 Tuesday. Sophomore guard Logan Fleming snared a rebound, hit the shot and was fouled with 2:50 left in the first quarter. She nailed the free throw to give the Hurons a 7-6 lead.
That lead lasted exactly 14 seconds before Mariah Ehrke’s layup regained the lead for the Cardinals, who led 12-9 after one quarter.
The Hurons outscored the Cards in the second, as they were able to break the Onaway press and hit some key shots. Onaway maintained a four-point edge most of the frame until the closing seconds. Following a missed free throw on the other end, Courtney Streich snared a rebound and banked in a shot with 15 seconds left in the half to make it 20-18, Onaway, at halftime.
But any Huron momentum disappeared in the third quarter. Onaway (14-4) mixed up its defensive schemes and drove to the basket often in the second half, leading to many fouls on the Hurons.
Nikkie LaLonde tied the score on the Hurons’ first possession before Onaway rolled to a 15-0 run over the next five minutes of play. Rebecca Meredith’s free throw with 1:03 left in the quarter ended the Cardinal run, with eight of those points coming from the charity stripe.
Courtney Streich scored the last seven points of the game for the Hurons, the last coming at the free-throw line with 2:57 left in the game. That cut the lead to 47-31. In the fourth quarter, 14 of the Cardinals’ 20 points came from the free-throw line.
Onaway made 29-of-44 from the free-throw line while Rogers City made 9-of-16 attempts. Courtney Streich led the Hurons with 13 points while LaLonde added six. Emily Estep and Ehrke had 11 points each for Onaway.
The junior varsity Hurons dropped to 9-8 with a 48-26 loss to the Cardinals. Onaway outscored the Hurons 28-16 in the first half and increased its lead to 40-23 after three quarters.
Ally Streich scored seven points while Alexa Quaine and Torri Deletka each scored six points.
LAST THURSDAY in Newberry, the varsity Hurons came very close to notching their second win of the season, losing in overtime by a score of 45-41.
Newberry took the lead with 2:11 left in the fourth quarter, after the Hurons led 10-6 aft
“The girls played hard from the first to last quarter, just made some mental mistakes that took us out of the game,” said Huron coach David O’Bryant of his players.
LaLonde had 15 points while Rebecca Meredith added seven.
The junior varsity suffered a 31-18 loss in Newberry. The junior Hurons led 8-5 after the first quarter but fell behind at halftime, 20-9.
Sarah Meredith had eight points while Quaine and Kelly Ellenberger added four each.
Rogers City hosts Cheboygan Thursday and hosts Hillman Monday.